IB 

Union Calendar No. 714 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6088 

[Report No. 115–921] 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize notifications of permit to 

drill, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 13, 2018 

Mr. CURTIS (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GIANFORTE, 

Mr. WESTERMAN, and Mr. GOHMERT) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Mr. LAMALFA and Mr. CRAMER

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 13, 2018] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize notifications 

of permit to drill, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Streamlining Permit5 ting Efficiencies in Energy Development Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SPEED Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. NOTIFICATIONS OF PERMIT TO DRILL. 

8 The Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is 

9 amended by— 

10 (1) redesignating section 44 as section 45; and 

11 (2) inserting after section 43 the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 44. NOTIFICATIONS OF PERMIT TO DRILL. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

15 establish procedures by which an operator may conduct 

16 drilling and production activities on available Federal land 

17 and non-Federal land after sending to the Secretary a noti18 fication of permit to drill under this section in lieu of ob19 taining an APD. 

20 ‘‘(b) CONTENT OF NOTIFICATION.—To be considered a 

21 complete notification of permit to drill under this section, 

22 an operator shall include in the notification of permit to 

23 drill submitted under this section— 

24 ‘‘(1) a notification of permit to drill form; 

25 ‘‘(2) a surface use plan of operations; 


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1 ‘‘(3) a drilling plan; 

2 ‘‘(4) a well plat certified by a registered sur3 veyor; 

4 ‘‘(5) an operator certification; 

5 ‘‘(6) evidence of bond coverage; and 

6 ‘‘(7) a notification of permit to drill fee in an 

7 amount to be determined by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(c) JUSTIFICATIONS FOR OBJECTION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided 

10 in this subsection, the Secretary may not object to a 

11 notification of permit to drill under this section if the 

12 notification— 

13 ‘‘(A) demonstrates that the drilling oper14 ations described in the notification of permit to 

15 drill will be located in— 

16 ‘‘(i) a developed field, where there are 

17 existing oil and gas wells within a 5-mile 

18 radius and for which an approved land use 

19 plan or environmental review was prepared 

20 within the last 10 years under the National 

21 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

22 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) that analyzed such 

23 drilling operations as a reasonably foresee24 able activity; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a location or well pad site at 

2 which drilling has occurred within 10 years 

3 before the date of spudding the well and the 

4 proposed operations do not increase the sur5 face disturbance on the location or well pad 

6 site; 

7 ‘‘(iii) an area consisting of individual 

8 surface disturbances of less than 10 acres 

9 and the total surface disturbance on the 

10 lease is not greater than 150 acres and for 

11 which an approved land use plan or envi12 ronmental review was prepared within the 

13 last 10 years under the National Environ14 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

15 et seq.) that analyzed such drilling oper16 ations as a reasonably foreseeable activity; 

17 ‘‘(iv) an area consisting of Federal 

18 mineral interests that is located within the 

19 boundaries of a communitization agreement 

20 or unit agreement which contains minerals 

21 leased by a State or private mineral owner 

22 for which a drilling permit has been ap23 proved by a State regulatory agency; or 

24 ‘‘(v) an area in which a categorical ex25 clusion under the National Environmental 


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1 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

2 applies for oil and gas drilling or re-entry 

3 activities; or 

4 ‘‘(B) includes— 

5 ‘‘(i) an environmental review that con6 cludes that actions described in the notifica7 tion of permit to drill pose no significant 

8 effects on the human environment or threat9 ened or endangered species; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) an archeological review that con11 cludes that actions described in the notifica12 tion of permit to drill pose no significant 

13 effects on cultural or historic properties or 

14 resources. 

15 ‘‘(2) ENDANGERED SPECIES PROTECTION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para17 graph (1), the Secretary shall object to a notifi18 cation of permit to drill if the activity described 

19 in such notification of permit to drill is likely to 

20 jeopardize the continued existence of a species 

21 that is a threatened species or endangered species 

22 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

23 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or result in the destruction 

24 or adverse modification of critical habitat of 

25 such species. 


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1 ‘‘(B) WITHDRAWAL OF OBJECTION.—The 

2 Secretary may withdraw an objection under sub3 paragraph (A) if the operator consults with the 

4 Secretary on such objection and places condi5 tions on the notification of permit to drill suffi6 cient to comply with the Endangered Species Act 

7 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

8 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para10 graph (1), the Secretary shall object to a notifi11 cation of permit to drill if the activity described 

12 in such notification of permit to drill is likely to 

13 affect properties listed, or eligible for listing, in 

14 the National Register of Historic Places under 

15 section 306108 of title 54, United States Code 

16 (commonly known as the National Historic Pres17 ervation Act of 1966). 

18 ‘‘(B) WITHDRAWAL OF OBJECTION.—The 

19 Secretary may withdraw an objection under sub20 paragraph (A) if the operator consults with the 

21 Secretary on such objection and places condi22 tions on the notification of permit to drill suffi23 cient to comply with section 306108 of title 54, 

24 United States Code (commonly known as the Na25 tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966). 


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1 ‘‘(d) OBJECTION OR NO ACTION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION OF INCOMPLETE NOTIFICA3 TION.—Not later than 15 days after receipt of a noti4 fication of permit to drill, or a revised notification of 

5 permit to drill, from an operator under this section, 

6 the Secretary shall notify the operator in writing if 

7 the notification of permit to drill is not complete. 

8 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF OBJECTIONS.—Not later 

9 than 45 days after receipt of a complete notification 

10 of permit to drill from an operator under this section, 

11 the Secretary shall review the notification of permit 

12 to drill and— 

13 ‘‘(A) notify the operator in writing of any 

14 objections to the notification of permit to drill; 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(B) take no action. 

17 ‘‘(3) NO ACTION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary 

18 has not notified an operator under either paragraph 

19 (1) or paragraph (2) within 45 days after receipt of 

20 a notification of permit to drill from the operator 

21 under this section, the operator may, without further 

22 action from the Secretary, conduct the drilling and 

23 production activities for which the notification of per24 mit to drill was submitted. 


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1 ‘‘(4) OPPORTUNITY TO RESUBMIT NOTIFICA2 TION.—If the Secretary notifies an operator under 

3 paragraph (1) of an incomplete notification or para4 graph (2) of an objection, the Secretary shall allow 

5 the operator to address such incomplete notification 

6 or objection and revise and resubmit the notification 

7 of permit to drill. 

8 ‘‘(5) OPPORTUNITY TO RESUBMIT NOTIFICATION

9 AS APD.—If the Secretary notifies an operator under 

10 paragraph (2) of an objection, the Secretary shall 

11 allow the operator to resubmit such information in 

12 the form of an APD. 

13 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION FEE.—The Secretary may not 

14 charge an operator under this section a fee for submitting 

15 a notification of permit to drill greater than the fee the Sec16 retary charges an applicant for an APD. 

17 ‘‘(f) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An environmental review or 

19 archeological review described in subsection (c)(1)(B) 

20 may be completed by a third-party contractor ap21 proved by the Secretary or pursuant to a memo22 randum of understanding between the operator and 

23 the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(2) FIELD WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Sec25 retary shall issue a field work authorization to a 


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1 third-party contractor for the purposes of paragraph 

2 (1) within a reasonable time. 

3 ‘‘(3) REQUEST FOR CONCURRENCE.—The Sec4 retary shall allow a third-party contractor to submit 

5 a request to the State Historic Preservation Office on 

6 behalf of the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL SURFACE USE PERMITS.—The Sec8 retary may not require an operator that has submitted a 

9 notification of permit to drill for which the Secretary did 

10 not object to obtain a surface use permit for an action in11 cluded in the notification of permit to drill. 

12 ‘‘(h) SITE INSPECTION.—The Secretary may not re13 quire an operator that has submitted a notification of per14 mit to drill for which the Secretary did not object to submit 

15 to a site inspection before commencement of the activities 

16 described in the notification of permit to drill. 

17 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary may 

18 conduct inspections of and evaluate activities described in 

19 a notification of permit to drill for purposes of bringing 

20 an enforcement action. The Secretary may suspend enforce21 ment proceedings if the operator modifies its activities to 

22 comply with the notification of permit to drill or obtains 

23 an APD for such activities. 

24 ‘‘(j) APPLICATION OF NEPA.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) NO ACTION BY SECRETARY.—The decision 

2 by the Secretary to take no action under subsection 

3 (c)(1)(B)(2) shall not constitute a major Federal ac4 tion under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environ5 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 

6 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF REGULATIONS.—The de7 velopment of any regulation pursuant to this section 

8 shall constitute a major Federal action under section 

9 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 

10 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 

11 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) APD.—The term ‘APD’ means an applica13 tion to drill or re-enter a well. 

14 ‘‘(2) AVAILABLE FEDERAL LAND.—The term 

15 ‘available Federal land’ means Federal land that— 

16 ‘‘(A) is located within the boundaries of a 

17 State; 

18 ‘‘(B) is not held by the United States in 

19 trust for the benefit of a federally recognized In20 dian Tribe; 

21 ‘‘(C) is not a unit of the National Park 

22 System; 

23 ‘‘(D) is not a unit of the National Wildlife 

24 Refuge System; 


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1 ‘‘(E) is not a Congressionally-approved wil2 derness area under the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

3 1131 et seq.); and 

4 ‘‘(F) is managed by the Director of the Bu5 reau of Land Management or the Chief of the 

6 U.S. Forest Service. 

7 ‘‘(3) DRILLING OPERATIONS.—The term ‘drilling 

8 operations’ means the drilling or re-entry of a well. 

9 ‘‘(4) DRILLING PLAN.—The term ‘drilling plan’ 

10 means a plan containing— 

11 ‘‘(A) a description of the drilling program; 

12 ‘‘(B) the surface and projected completion 

13 zone location; 

14 ‘‘(C) pertinent geologic data; 

15 ‘‘(D) expected hazards; 

16 ‘‘(E) proposed mitigation measures to ad17 dress such hazards; 

18 ‘‘(F) any other information specified in ap19 plicable notices or orders; and 

20 ‘‘(G) any other pertinent data as the Sec21 retary may require. 

22 ‘‘(5) SURFACE USE PLAN OF OPERATION.—The 

23 term ‘surface use plan of operation’ means a plan 

24 containing— 

25 ‘‘(A) the road and drill pad location; 


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1 ‘‘(B) details of pad construction; 

2 ‘‘(C) methods for containment and disposal 

3 of waste material; 

4 ‘‘(D) plans for reclamation of the surface; 

5 ‘‘(E) any other information specified in ap6 plicable orders or notices; and 

7 ‘‘(F) any other pertinent data as the Sec8 retary may require.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 714 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6088 

[Report No. 115–921] 

A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize noposes. tifications of permit to drill, and for other purSEPTEMBER 6, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS